WJPA Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft allowed five hits over eight efficient innings, Oneil Cruz homered in his return from the injured list, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1. Ashcraft struck out four and didn’t issue a walk while throwing just 80 pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander was coming off the first complete game of his career in a win over Miami last week. He gave up a fifth-inning homer to Tigers rookie Brett Callahan but otherwise cruised to his fourth win in five starts. Cruz had been out since early June with a broken left hand.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers matched baseball’s modern-era record for the biggest shutout, beating the Seattle Mariners 22-0 on Tuesday night behind three-run homers from Christian Yelich, David Hamilton and Luis Lara and a two-run shot by Jake Bauers. The major league-best Brewers matched a franchise record for runs in a game. Since 1901, the only previous 22-0 shutouts were by Pittsburgh over the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975 and by Cleveland over the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004. Kyle Hamilton allowed two hits in five innings, and three relievers followed, with catcher Gary Sánchez working the ninth. The Brewers scored nine times in the eighth against Mariners infielder Leo Rivas.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State’s 2025 season ended with a four-game winning streak including a victory over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. But that came after an 0-6 start in Big Ten play that saw the Nittany Lions tumble from the College Football Playoff picture and longtime coach James Franklin fired midway. through the losing skid. The Nittany Lions hired Matt Campbell from Iowa State. He has retooled the staff and roster and there’s a sense of hope around the program with competition at almost every spot. The Nittany Lions open the season at home against Marshall on Sept. 5.

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Bill Rasmussen, who co-founded cable TV sports giant ESPN, has died at the age of 93. ESPN historian Mike Soltys says Rasmussen died Tuesday at his Florida home from the effects of Parkinson’s disease. Rasmussen and his son Scott came up with the idea of a network carrying sports around the clock, and it would revolutionize Americans’ TV-watching habits. ESPN debuted in 1979. But the Rasmussens didn’t stick around long. They were forced out after only a year by ESPN majority owner Getty Oil. Bill Rasmussen and ESPN were estranged until 1999, when company executives invited him to the 20th anniversary celebration. Rasmussen was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.